Juggling
by Suki-Rose Essence
Summary: The world is doomed - for the millionth time. The leader of the Sycorax is standing before the Doctor, but he seems more interested practice his juggling skills. Hilarity ensues.


**Juggling**

It was over; the Earth was doomed; the Sycorax had completely taken over. They'd returned with a vengeance since the Doctor's previous incarnation had stopped them at Christmas time some years ago. All the people of the Earth stood, teetering, over cliff edges and the tops of buildings. One wrong word and they'd all be dead forever, Amy Pond thought to herself. The sense of finality clung to the back of her eyelids, constricted her throat painfully. They were stuck; there was nothing they could do. As if the predicament wasn't bad enough, the leader of the Sycorax had decided to pay them a visit in the TARDIS whilst they hovered almost tentatively above the Earth. How he'd managed to actually teleport into the spaceship and get through the new 'anti-intruder' system that the Doctor had installed roughly one week ago was beyond her, but she knew that it wasn't worth her thinking about it in too much detail.

Amy's gaze found the Sycorax leader's as he stood by the doors of the TARDIS, and she felt a shudder pass straight through her. His eyes were as crimson as – well – blood, and his scrutiny in itself was as sharp as knives. For one moment, he held her gaze, tension sparking between them before flickering to the Doctor's. That was when his brows (or at least Amy guessed that was what they were) furrowed in pure confusion. Amy took a few moments to wonder why before turning her head to stare at the Doctor. What she saw made her heart freeze in her chest. Oh, Doctor, why now?

"There's no pressure," the Doctor said, as if reading her thoughts, "absolutely... no... pressure..." His voice trailed off as the concentration sank in, three juggling balls passing across his hands as easily as if he were a professional. His tongue stuck out at an odd angle, his eyes darting between each little sphere as it passed from his left to his right and then back again. His jacket was lying across the swivel chair positioned almost readily at one side of the room and his sleeves were rolled up, just in the way he always did when he meant business. This didn't seem like one of those moments though, Amy Pond thought to herself. Juggling was _child's play. _And it really shouldn't be on the Doctor's mind when there were thousands – no, millions – of lives at risk on the planet below.

"Doctor..." she started, unable to keep the anxiety from leaking into her voice. Before she could continue however, the Doctor turned to her, still juggling, and made an impatient 'shh'ing noise at her before turning back to face the front. A bubble of laughter escaped from the Sycorax.

"Is this a joke?" he spluttered, "Were you really the man who halted all our plans for Earth five years ago?"

"Yep," said the Doctor absent-mindedly, still not taking his eyes off the balls. The Sycorax floundered, so stunned that he literally had no idea what to say. Amy didn't blame him – she was just as stuck for words as he was. Tentative seconds passed.

"Do you think you could pass me another ball?" The Doctor said, his eyes suddenly flickering to the Sycorax and then back again. Amy spluttered. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't believe _any _of this. What on Earth was the Doctor playing at? The Sycorax looked around him, before shrugging at the Doctor, still as confused as ever.

"There aren't any," he said, "now, about Earth-"

"How about that glowing orb on the top of your staff, then?" said the Doctor. Amy glanced over at the long, thin piece of what she guessed was some kind of wood that the Sycorax was holding. The orb on top was glowing a soft, gentle azure colour – in fact, it almost seemed to be pulsing with light, the colour drifting into her mind and-

"Pond!" The surreal feeling that the orb had cast over Amy was suddenly shattered by the Doctor's exclamation. She looked over at him. He was staring at her with an urgent look in his eyes, silently chiding her for whatever it was that she had just done. She glanced back at the orb, and then back at the Doctor. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realise what she'd been told off for. The Doctor found the Sycorax between the balls still darting from one hand to the next. A sigh of impatience seemed to leave him.

"What are you waiting for?" he said, "throw me the orb!"

The Sycorax leader didn't seem to have a choice in the matter. He detached the ball from the staff and threw it to the Doctor, who caught it in mid-juggle, instantly adding it to the pattern.. The ball seemed to wink at Amy through deep blue eyes as it left one hand and flew to the other, but she kept her eyes carefully trained on the Doctor's face. She couldn't afford to be brainwashed now. The Sycorax, too, seemed to realise how high the stakes were, how much depended on the welfare of that little orb. His fists were screwed up by his sides, and he looked ready to run straight at the Doctor and reclaim it. Amy wondered how he'd even been stupid enough to give it to him anyway.

"Have you ever tried juggling?" The Doctor said, his eyes back on the Sycorax leader. Taken a little off guard by the question, which it in itself seemed to be derived from pure spontanaety, the Sycorax shook his head, speechless. The Doctor smiled.

"I'll give you a go in a minute," he said, "humans make it out to be so very difficult, but it's easy once you get the hang of it."

Despite the anxiety raging through her, Amy felt a small touch of something warm begin to formulate inside of her. Trust the Doctor to take a stab at humans now. She knew he'd done it for her benefit. She smiled to herself, knowing he would see.

"Ready?" he said to the Sycorax a few moments later. Amy glanced up at the creature – and suddenly, he had adopted the same floundering façade that she had held just a moment before. There was no time for him to say anything, however; seconds later, the Doctor had thrown the blue orb straight at him. His hands reflexively moved to catch it, but he wasn't quick enough; the ball rebounded off him before hitting the umbrella which had been wired into some kind of contraption that it served as a lever for, before shattering into a pile of smoky azure cloud on the floor. The umbrella shot backwards, and as it did, the TARDIS suddenly lurched. Amy stared at the Doctor, feeling her terror begin to sink back into her veins. He, on the other hand, was still juggling, winking at Amy as he felt her gaze on the side of his head. This must all be part of the plan – at least, Amy hoped so.

Seconds later, a bright red spotlight opened up on the Sycorax – and then, just as it did, a very strange song seemed to resonate out the TARDIS' speakers.

_'Derp, derpidy derp...'_

All the balls fell from the Doctor's hands as he glanced around at the TARDIS walls in pure wonder.

"No, no, no!" he cried out, "I said an _alarm! _Not a song!"

Despite the Doctor's protest, the song still continued. Before he could try to do anything to fix this, however, the TARDIS suddenly lurched backwards, the two double doors opening in preparation. Amy and the Doctor, used to the TARDIS' mood swings, grabbed onto one of the nearby rails, but the Sycorax wasn't so lucky. Roaring with a mixture of both anger and fear, he slid backwards out of the TARDIS and straight towards the Earth below. The Doctor chuckled.

"I knew that anti-intruder alarm would come in handy at some point!" his eyes on Amy, full of the emotions she knew she'd probably see on a child who had built a toy aeroplane and watched it fly. Tropical relief spread through her veins as she smiled back at the Doctor, the TARDIS levelling out around them. Her eyes finally strayed to the blue mess on the floor, all that was left of the orb that had been the server for controlling all the humans on Earth.

"And they'll be safe now?" she said, gesturing to what was left of the device. The Doctor followed her gaze, regarding the puddle briefly, before turning back to her.

"Yep," he said cheerfully, "of course, they probably won't be able to remember anything about what happened within the last two hours, but that's a good thing..." His eyes turned thoughtful for a moment, "although last time, there were a couple who..."  
>"Let's not think about it," said Amy hurriedly, although her smile didn't disappear, "so where next?"<p>

"Well," said the Doctor, and the smile on his face made Amy realise that she knew exactly what was coming, "I did think of taking you to Circa, a planet that's just one giant circus..."

Amy smiled. He never changed.


End file.
